Knaus v. Guidry

State: Illinois

Court: 1st District Appellate

Docket No: 1-07-3509 Rel

Case Date: 03/27/2009

Preview:SIXTH DIVISION March 27 , 2009 No. 1-07-3509 BRIAN KNAUS and AARON EVERSON, ) ) Plaintiffs-Appellees, ) ) v. ) ) Appeal from the Circuit Court of CHARLES C. GUIDRY, Individually and as ) Cook County, Illinois. agent of Charles C. Guidry, P.C., and CHARLES ) County Department, Law Division C. GUIDRY, P.C., a professional corporation, ) No. 1-07-3509 ) Defendants-Appellants. ) Honorable Dennis J. Burke, ) Judge Presiding. ) (Douglas Erickson, Robert Anderson, and Bruce ) Edwards, Each Individually and Each as Agent of ) The Richum Group, d/b/a Richum Corporation and ) Richum Group of Companies; Richum Corporation, ) a Corporation; The Richum Group, a Corporation; ) Jerome Carter, Individually and as Agent of PHD ) Management, L.L.C.; PHD Management, L.L.C., a ) Limited Liability Company; Wesley Taylor, ) Individually and as Agent of Taylor Group ) Corporation; and Taylor Group Corporation, an ) Illinois Corporation, ) ) Defendants) ) ______________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE JOSEPH GORDON delivered the opinion of the court: Defendants appeal from an order of the circuit court denying their motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

No. 1-07-3509 I. BACKGROUND In this action, plaintiffs Brian Knaus and Aaron Everson, residents of Florida and Missouri, respectively, contend they were defrauded by the captioned defendants Douglas Erickson, Robert Anderson, Bruce Edwards, the Richum Group, Jerome Carter, PHD Management, L.L.C., Wesley Taylor, the Taylor Group Corporation, Charles C. Guidry, and Charles C. Guidry, P.C., in what they describe as an "advance fee scheme." According to plaintiffs' complaint, the first part of the fraud was perpetrated by the Richum Group, a company that was previously incorporated in Wyoming, but whose registration has now lapsed. Plaintiffs contend that the Richum Group is currently operated by its president Robert Anderson, a resident of Illinois, its vice-president, Douglas Erickson, a resident of Missouri, and an agent of the corporation named Bruce Edwards, a resident of Illinois. They assert that Edwards, on behalf of the Richum Group, induced them to give the company $390,000 by representing that the money would be used to secure a loan for the Richum Group and that as soon as the loan was secured, they would receive $780,000 in return

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